Rugby: Fusaro's try brace not enough to save Heriot's

However, that wasn't enough to prevent the Scots going down 34-17 at the Memorial Ground yesterday in their latest British and Irish Cup tie. The Edinburghers now have a last chance to record a win on Friday 12 March when they cross the Irish Sea seeking to end Munster A's unbeaten record in the fledgling competition.

Headline-grabber for the Herioters was again wing forward prospect Chris Fusaro, who claimed two tries – just as he did in his last outing for the club which was a 40-0 trouncing of Watsonians in the Scottish Cup.

In between, Fusaro enjoyed an outing at Magners Celtic League level with Glasgow against Cardiff and Murrayfield bosses may have to move quickly to secure him on a contract with clubs elsewhere bound to be taking note.

It was always going to be a tough assignment for Heriot's especially after losing previous B & I Cup meetings with Nottingham, Coventry, and Neath. But, despite being under severe forward pressure, Heriot's dug in helped by the boot of stand off Greig Rutherford keeping Bristol at bay. Within sight of the finish they were only ten points adrift against their professional opponents.

The display gave credence to coach Bob McKillop's view beforehand that Scottish clubs were entitled to argue for increased involvement in any future competitions. Early scores by Bristol's James Merriman and England's sevens international Matt Turner saw the Scots trail 10-0. However, with the back three gaining valuable ground Jamie Syme carried the ball well to send Fusaro over close enough to the posts for captain Graham Wilson to convert.

When Wilson then added a penalty with Bristol's Mariano Sambucetti in the sin-in the teams looked set to turn round level. Alas a quickly-taken penalty on half-time saw Heriot's pushed on to the back foot and unable to re-group in time to prevent Jack Tovey crossing for a try.

With Pete Eccles in the sin-in Heriot's conceded try No.4 to James Merriman and a penalty conceded in front of their own posts led to Jack Adams going over for Chris Ashwin to convert for 27-10.

Summoning all their resources and taking advantage of a second Bristol yellow card – this time for prop Alex Clarke – Heriot's struck again when Fusaro pounced following mounting pressure on the home line. With Wilson converting, hopes of a shock flickered momentarily but these were extinguished when Bristol's replacement scrum half Sam Alford dived over from the back of a ruck, Mark Davies converting.

Also at the weekend, Ayr went down 22-21 to Pontypridd but can still qualify with a bonus point win on Saturday at Cardiff provided results elsewhere also go their way.